Tractor operated straw sweeper



Dec. 4, 1951 P. H. OPPEGAARD 2,577,264

I TRACTOR OPERATED STRAW SWEEPER 4 Filed Dec. 28, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1Fig. l.-

Parnell H. Oppegaard INVENTOR.

Dec 4, 1951 P. H. OPPEGAARD 2,577,264

TRACTOR OPERATED STRAW SWEEPER Filed Dec. 28, 1949 2 SHEETS -SHEET 2Fig. 3

Parnell H. Oppegaard IN VEN TOR.

BY -Mag,

Patented Dec. 4, 1951 2,517,26 If v TRACTOR oPEnA'rEn-s' r mwsvv EPER" wParnell H. Oppegaard,Mc Intosl1 ,Minn.' ,V ApplicationDe'cember 2s, 1949, Serial,l*{o;1 35,32'l' lClaim. (01. 56427) My invention relates toimprovements in tractor operated straw sweepers for use in the field intractor plowing.-

The primary object of my invention is to equip the conventional farmtractor with means of simple form for use when plowing with the tractorto sweep loose straw and the like into one furrow in advance of the plowfor covering when the next furrow is plowed.

Another object is to provide means of the character and for the purposeset forth adapted for mountingontheconventional farm tractor withoutnecessitating any change in the basic structure of the tractor, andwhich is not liable to get out of order from prolonged use, and requiresa minimum of servicing.

Other and subordinate objects, within the purview of my invention,together with the precise nature of my improvements will be readilyunderstood when the succeeding description and claims are read-with-refere nce to the drawings accompanying and forming part of thisspecification. r v

In said drawingss l V Figure l is a view in side ele'v vention in thepreferred embodiment thereof;

Figure 2 is a view in plan;

Figure 3 is a fragmentaryview in rear elevation illustratingthedrivefrom the power takeoff of the tractor drawn to a larger scale;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view in vertical section of my intion taken onthe line 44 of Figure 1 and drawn to a larger scale;

Figure 5 is a detail view in horizontal section taken on the line 55 ofFigure 2 and drawn to a larger scale.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, according to my invention, theconventional farm tractor I is equipped with a rotary, circular sweeperhead 2 disposed horizontally between the front steering wheels 3 and therear traction wheels 4.

The sweeper head 2, in the embodiment shown, comprises an annular, fiatrim 5 connected to a hub 6 by spokes 6'. Sweeper fingers, or tines, Ispaced circumferentially around the rim 5, equidistantly, dependtherefrom and are pivoted, as at 8, contiguous the upper ends thereof tothe inner face of said rim 5 to swing rearwardly relative to thedirection of rotation of said head 2, for a purpose presently seen. Coilsprings 9 suitably connected, as shown in Figure 5, to said fingers 1above the pivots 8, and to the rim 5 tension the sweeper fingers 1against such swinglng. Stop bosses It on the rim 5 establish a normal"position of the sweeper fingers 1' under "the urge of the coil springs9 so that said fingers fincline from the rim 5 downwardly and rearsaidsweeper head'ZQ 1 A mounting for the sweeper head 2 is providedcomprising an upright driven shaft II on the lower end of which the hub6 is keyed, as at l2,

wardly relative to thedirection of rotation of and retained by a nut 13.The driven shaft ll is rotatably mounted'in an upright sleeve l4 securedby U-bolts l5 toa head carrying bar It and to a stabilizing frame I!rising from said bar'lB.

The head carrying bar It extends horizontally, longitudinally alongthe'right hand side of the tractor frame'l8fw'ith a front end pivoted,as at l9, on a lateral bracket on said frame Ill. The head carrying barl6'is pivoted, as described, for vertical swinging adjustment to varythe pla'ne'in which the sweeper head rotates, for a "purpose presentlyseen, and the mounting-for said head 2 further comprises the followingmeans for vertically adjusting said bar 16.

a An uprighthanger rod 2| extends through the r'earend of said bar Itwith a retaining nut 22 for said bar on the lower end ofsaid rod. Theupper end of-the'hanger rod 2| is pivoted-as at 23, to-one end of abell" crank lever 24, pivoted, as at 25, on the tractor l for vertical-rocking movement. An upright hand lever 26 pivoted on the tractor I, asat 21, is operatively connected to the bell crank lever 24 with theusual detent 28 on the hand lever for engagement with the usual detentsegment 29 suitably fixed on the tractor I.

The described mounting for the sweeper head 2 is designed to supportsaid head at the right hand side of the tractor I so that as the headrotates a segment thereof overhangs the path of travel of the right handtraction wheel 4 whereby the sweeper fingers 1 are revolved in acircular path across and lengthwise of said path of travel of the righthand traction wheel 4 and forwardly of said wheel. Thus, if the righthand rear traction wheel 4 is traveling in a plowed furrow, the sweeperhead 2 will be rotated over the furrow and the sweeper fingers 1revolved over the furrow in advance of said rear wheel.

The head carrying bar I6 is designed to be vertically adjusted so thatwhen the right hand traction wheel 4 is traveling in a furrow, notshown, said head 2 is tilted upwardly and forwardly so that the sweeperfingers 1 in the rear of said head engage the ground for sweeping strawoff the ground into the furrow, whereas,

the remaining sweeper fingers clear the ground to obviate sweeping ofstraw away from the furrow.

To prevent breakage, the head carrying bar I6 is vertically slidable onthe hanger 2| in opposition to a coil spring 30 on said rod so that thesweeper head 2 and said bar [6 may yieldingly swing upwardly on thepivot IE to ride over obstructions in the field.

A drive is provided between the power take-off shaft 3 I of'the tractorix and the" drivenrshaft l l and which comprises the following'nAspeedreducing belt and pulley drive 32 between the power take-off shaft3| and a stub shaft 33 provides- The combination withatractorhaving arear ground wheel on one side thereof adapted to 1 travel in a plowedfurrow, said tractor having a for driving said stub shaft in.a-suitable-bearing;

bracket 34 on the tractor L'IA' flexible driving shaft 35 operativelyconnects the stub shaft 33 to the upper end of the driven shaft H.

The operation of my invention will be readily I understood. With thesweeper head 22 prloperlyi adjusted vertically, andT-in plowing with aplow, not shown, drawn by the tractor gl- ,.the. right hand reartraction wheel 4 .iscaused to) traclg in aplowed furrow while asucceeding furrow is being plowed, Thus thesweeper head 2 iscarried overthe field, not shown, in advance of said wheelA. With the powertake-offshafts-[operating, under theusual control,-not shown, to'drive thesweeper head: counterclockwise. asviewed in Figure 2,, the sweeperfingers sweep straw, and the like from the ground, into theplowedifurrowto be'packed therein bythe right hand rear traction wheel 4for subsequent-covering by the plow as the next furrow is plowed.

As the sweeper fingers 1', at the rear of .the

sweeper head 2-, operate in engagement with the ground, said fingersswingrearwardly with re spect to the direction in-whichthe same arebeing revolved, to drag over theground with a'sweeping action and yieldupwardly to compensate-for uneven ground. Obviously, by verticaladjustment of the head carrying bar 16,, in the manner described, theplane-in which; the sweeper head rotates may be varied to vary the.number of sweeper. fingers i which will engage. the ground. The-sweeperhead 2 and theheads carrying. bar l e will swing upwardly inoppositiontothe coil springs '38, as saidhead moves forwardltutocompensate for uneven ground. and permit the sweeper head to ride overobstructions. I

powertake off of a bar extending longitudinally of the tractor alongsaid side thereof with a front end.pivotally connectedto said tractorfor vertical swinging adjustment of the'bar, a ground sweeper head"having a circular series of ground sweeper teeth depending therefrom,means'rotatably suspending said head from said bar for,rotatlonaboutiavertical axis to revolve said series ofteetheeresswise.-of:v saidfurrow to sweep material into the furrowfor;packing: by said wheel,

said head being 'tilt-ablezyby adjustment. ef'said to revolitetheteethsuccessively; intoengaga ment-with therg-roundi to sweep toward: the:iurrow solely. a drive between: said; power takje oif and gaidiheadlincluding aflexible connection compensating for tiltingofqsaidhead:relative-170: said power take-01f, a hand lever :on said tractor,- andmeans-operatively connecting said lever to the 951181, end of said. banto adju'st said barn.

- PAR-NELL H-JOPPEGAARDL REF BENQES 0 m 7 The following-preferencesare-of record in'- the file ofithisa tent i UNITED; STATES" PA'IENTSNumber, I 2' v 7 Name H Date- 333,917; Brown, .i Ja n'.'5, 1886 391,434;ea me u munen Oct. 23, 1 888 1,426,989 Jones et al Aug-22,1922 2,064,480Lock et a1 ..-;Dec". 15, '1936 2,265,405 r g Sta-ntz r; .;Dec. 9,. 1941--'Fo12-Efen;PArE-n'rs Number v Country; -];I5ate-- Great Britain i.. e.'Jlul'y I7, 1'91;

